Canadian Regulators Approve Country's First Blockchain ETF

The Ontario Securities Commission has approved Canada's first blockchain exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is set to launch on the Toronto Stock Exchange next week.

Harvest Portfolios, an independent Canadian investment management company, filed the preliminary paperwork for its Blockchain Technologies ETF (ticker: HBLK) in January, seeking to provide Canadian investors with the opportunity to buy into the blockchain technology sector, according to the Globe and Mail.

The fund will invest "in equity securities of issuers exposed, directly or indirectly to the development and implementation of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies," a Harvest Portfolios statement said. The company intends for the ETF to track blockchain technology projects, mirroring its Harvest Blockchain Technologies Index.

According to the Globe and Mail, two other Canadian companies, First Trust Portfolios Canada and Evolve Funds Group Inc., are also seeking to launch blockchain funds, and filed their first prospectuses with regulators this week.